Tag Archives: social

Levitating Hamsters! Science Comedy, 29th Feb.

Posted on January 31, 2024 by MarshalledThoughts | Leave a comment

PubSci is pleased to announce a special event on 29th February as part of the Waterloo “Pinch of Vaults” festival. You are invited to an evening of science communication comedy and storytelling in London SE1

Science communicator and PubSci host Richard Marshall presents a one-man show about the weird and wonderful stories that sometimes make science stranger than fiction. With science as the warp and imagination as the weft, Richard weaves a unique narrative to make you laugh and make you think (then make you laugh again).

Somewhere between a science talk and a stand-up comedy show, exists a space where one man and his powerpoint pick at the loose threads of science to see where they might lead us. With contributions from leading scientists, including Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Andre Geim.

Book today! Over 30% of tickets already sold.

Date: 7pm, Thursday 29th Feb 2024

Venue: Alaska, Waterloo (129 Alaska street, London SE1 8XE)

Doors: 6.30pm

Tickets on sale from the Vault Festival/PoV website

Regular PubSci is on Weds 21st Feb at the Old Kings Head, when Dr Anna Joyce talks about the science and psychology of sleep. See the preview our Next PubSci page. Full details and tickets soon.

Subscribe to our Events Calendar and Eventbrite page to receive automatic updates on events and tickets.

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Posted in Cats, Comedy, IgNobel, Nobel_Prize, Performance, scicomm, Science, Skeptics, talks

Tagged Comedy, event, Events, Geeks and Nerds, London, Pubsci, Science, science in the pub, social, theatre

Weds 20th September | The Weird and Wonderful World of Eels

Posted on September 8, 2023 by MarshalledThoughts | 1 comment

[Booking via eventbrite. Free to attend but donations to running costs are greatly appreciated]

Eels! Where do they breed? What was ‘eel rent’? And where have all the eels gone?

On Wednesday 20th September PubSci is delighted to welcome Dr Michael Williamson of ZSL Institute of Zoology to talk about the weird and wonderful world of eels.

The common European eel (Wikimedia Commons)

Eels are one of the UK’s most mysterious native fish species, so much so that a rich cultural folklore surrounds them. The Mighty Boosh even sang about them.

Eels were once so common that taxes were sometimes paid by the 10,000 eels but a recent environmental DNA survey found absolutely no trace of them in the Somerset Levels – a landscape once famous for eels. So what is going on?

In this talk, Mike will discuss the history of eels in human culture, their bizarre – and still mysterious – lifecycle and migration habits, and the enormous threat that now faces this most curious of fish. He’ll even address a question we’ve all wanted to ask but were too shy to say out loud… “Are eels better than whales?”

Once again, we’re using Eventbrite booking – please follow this link to reserve your spot.

• • •

Mike Williamson is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Institute of Zoology, the research division of the Zoological Society of London (the global conservation organisation best known to children as Regents Park Zoo). He works at the interface of conservation, climate change and biodiversity, seeking to minimise the impact human-activity has on the natural world.

Michael uses tagging technology and remote sensing to investigate the movements and migrations of marine and freshwater fauna, exploring how this is influenced by environmental drivers, anthropogenic disturbance and climate change. He has tagged whales, tracked sharks and is currently knee-deep in eels.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear what he has to say. Booking via Eventbrite is now live!

Photo: Michael Williamson

PubSci is grateful to Mike for stepping in at short notice. Erica McAlister’s talk will now take place next year.

Join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge station. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. The Old King’s Head has a happy hour before 7pm, and the kitchen serves excellent pub grub.

• • •

Please support PubSci.

There is no charge for attending PubSci talks, but we have a whip-round to cover expenses. Because so few of us carry cash these days, you can contribute digitally too. Please help PubSci continue to put on events.

We aim to keep PubSci accessible for all, although it is unsuitable for under 18s as we meet in the function room of a pub. Regrettably, there is no wheelchair access.

Please check our Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our iCal feed. You can find all our links on our LinkTree.

We used to meet on the first Wednesday of the month but PubSci is now on the third Wednesday.

Address:

The Old King’s Head (upstairs room)
King’s Head Yard
45-49 Borough High Street
London SE1 1NA

1 Comment

Posted in Events

Tagged conservation, fish, geek, London, Pub, Science, science in the pub, social

19th July | Chris French: “Putting Paranormal Claims to the Test”

Posted on June 30, 2023 by MarshalledThoughts | 2 comments

[Eventbrite registration required. Free to attend but donations to running costs welcome]

On Wednesday 19th July PubSci is delighted to welcome back Professor Chris French, renowned head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London.

A Victorian stage magician demonstrating mind reading for money

1900s theatre poster advertising a mind reading act

Prof. French’s unit explores non-paranormal explanations for experiences that people have reported as paranormal. His team has also devoted considerable time and effort over the years to directly testing paranormal claims

In this talk, Chris presents an overview of these investigations, including claims of psychic ability and mediumship, “human magnetism”, dowsing, and precognitive dreams. Join us for a fun and fascinating evening exploring the claims people make, the beliefs they hold, and what happens when they are subject to scientific enquiry.

Spoiler alert: He is still a sceptic.

Two men with metal forks and spoons apparently stuck to their bodies

‘Human magnets’ in Vietnam compete to stick the most items to their bodies. Image © Ryan Hinkson

Join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head near London Bridge station. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. The Old King’s Head has a happy hour before 7pm, and the kitchen serves excellent pub grub. We anticipate a large turnout for this event and are using Eventbrite to manage numbers. Please reserve your spot ASAP to avoid disappointment.

• • •

Professor Chris French. Image © Bill Robinson

Chris French is Emeritus Professor and Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and a Patron of UK Humanists.

Chris has published well over 150 articles and chapters covering a wide range of topics. His main current area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. He frequently appears on radio and television casting a sceptical eye over paranormal claims.

His most recent book is Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience and his next book, published by MIT Press, will be The Science of Weird Shit: Why Our Minds Conjure the Paranormal, is out next year.

• • •

Join us for a mind-bending evening as Chris French describes testing claims of the paranormal. Will you be you convinced by the science?

• • •

Please support PubSci.

We aim to keep PubSci accessible for all, although it is unsuitable for under 18s as we meet in the function room of a pub. Regrettably, there is no wheelchair access.

Please check our Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our iCal feed. The Spring/Summer talks programme will also be announced at this event. You can find all our links on our LinkTree.

We used to meet on the first Wednesday of the month but PubSci is now on the third Wednesday.

Address:

The Old King’s Head (upstairs room)
King’s Head Yard
45-49 Borough High Street
London SE1 1NA

2 Comments

Posted in Events, Paranormal, Popular Science, Pubsci, Skeptics, Superstition, Uncategorized

Tagged event, Geeks and Nerds, London, Pubsci, Science, science in the pub, social

17th May | Notice of event change to “Dr Michael Byford: What We Learnt from the Pandemic (And What We Didn’t):

Posted on May 9, 2023 by MarshalledThoughts | Leave a comment

Unfortunately Michael is unable to give this talk due to ill health. Please see the latest blog post for information on the replacement event or follow this link. We wish Michael a good recovery.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

On Wednesday 17th May 2023 we are delighted to welcome biochemist and microbologist Michael Byford to PubSci to talk about what was learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic.

SARS-CoV-2 caused a global pandemic on a scale not seen for over a century. In this talk, Michael will outline the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19. He will also describe the nature of mRNA vaccines and how the pandemic spurred the development of this approach which is being adapted to fight other diseases.

This talk was originally scheduled for PubSci online in June 2021 but was postponed due to changing covid restrictions. Almost two years on, we gain the benefit of both hindsight and new insights.

Michael is one of our most prolific and popular speakers and we couldn’t be happier to welcome him as our first speaker of the new season. Anybody who remembers Michael’s 2019 talk on bacteriophages will know to expect a fascinating and informative evening.

• • •

Michael Byford received his PhD in biochemistry in 1983 from the University of Southampton before joining the University of Washington where he discovered the “IQ domain” in a neurospecific protein and developed a method of detecting phosphorylated residues of amino acids, a key step in understanding metabolic pathways.

He returned to Southampton to initiate work on neuroblastoma, a highly aggressive tumour found only in children. Upon moving to the University of Oxford he worked on the first step in the synthesis of penicillin. He then worked for DEFRA primarily on Creutzfeldt Jacob (AKA “mad cow”) disease.

Following a brief spell working on DNA repair, Michael became senior lecturer in biochemistry at London South Bank University. After a period teaching environmental microbiology at the University of Portsmouth Michael returned to his native Sussex to tutor privately.

• • •

Join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge station. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. The Old King’s Head has a happy hour before 7pm to get you in the mood, and the kitchen serves excellent pub grub.

Please support PubSci. As usual, there is no charge for attending PubSci talks, but we have a whip-round to cover expenses. Because so few of us carry cash these days, you can contribute digitally too.

• • •

We aim to keep PubSci accessible for all, although it is unsuitable for under 18s as we meet in the upper room of a pub. Regrettably, there is no wheelchair access.

Check our Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our Google Calendar so PubSci events automatically appear in your own Calendar. You can find all our links on our LinkTree.

NB PubSci used to meet on the first Wednesday of the month but is now on the third Wednesday.

Address:

The Old King’s Head (upstairs room)
King’s Head Yard
45-49 Borough High Street
London SE1 1NA

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Posted in Bioscience, Events, Microbiology, pharmacology, Pubsci, talks

Tagged event, Geeks and Nerds, London, Pubsci, Science, science in the pub, social

Thank you… and we’re back in the room!

Posted on April 21, 2023 by MarshalledThoughts | Leave a comment

A huge thank you to everybody who came to the Old King’s Head on Wednesday.

It really was great to be back live, talking about science – in the pub. It’s been a long, steep journey to relaunch live events from scratch after three years without a venue. Wednesday made it all worthwhile.

If you weren’t there, you won’t know what you missed, but the full Spring / Summer programme is now up, so make sure you come to the next one if you can. Subscribe to our google calendar to be on the safe side!

The evening wasn’t without its surprises. The evening chef called in sick and it looked like there’d be no food at all, but lovely Sam from the bar, who has been a friend to PubSci for years, arranged for us to order pizzas from Giuseppe’s. She even took the payments and delivered the pizza. And they were delicious! Thanks Sam.

This is a good point to mention a little known fact: PubSci has a tradition of leaving a tip for the bar staff from contributions on the night (even if expenses outweigh contributions) because we couldn’t run the event without them.

It’s also a good moment to thank those who put in contributions to help keep PubSci running. Apologies to those who couldn’t make the QR code work – we think it was camera / device settings rather than an issue with the code itself. If you missed the chance on the night, you can always head to our linktree to use the Tip Jar.

Thank you Kate, George and Mike for giving such excellent talks, and for the audience questions. And for listening to me too! For the record, the talks were:

Kate Viscardi – “How Long Is a Piece of String?
George Holdaway – “Islamic Art: The Quest for the Quasi Crystal”
Mike Lucibella – “What’s the Deal with Antarctica?”
Richard Marshall – “The Levitating Hamster and Other Definitely True Stories”

You all made it worthwhile. X

See you back at the OKH on Wednesday 17th May for Dr. Michael Byford: What We Learnt from the Pandemic (And What We Didn’t)

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Posted in Events

Tagged event, Geeks and Nerds, London, Pubsci, Science, science in the pub, social

PubSci Returns to the Pub – Today!

Posted on April 19, 2023 by MarshalledThoughts | Leave a comment

A little reminder that we’re back in the Old King’s Head tonight

Kate Viscardi considers standards and deviations in “How Long Is a Piece of String?
George Holdaway discusses “Islamic Art: The Quest for the Quasi Crystal”
Mike Lucibella asks “What’s the Deal with Antarctica?”
Richard Marshall presents “The Levitating Hamster and Other Definitely True Stories”

Full details here: https://pubsci.info/next-event-19th-april-restart-special

• • •

The kitchen will be open. Order before 7pm and tell the bar staff you’re upstairs – they’ll bring your food in arrive early to get a table seat..

• • •

PubSci is free to attend but we have a whip-round to cover expenses. As so few of us carry cash now, you can contribute digitally too. This event will not be livestreamed. Regrettably, there is no wheelchair access.

Please check our Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our iCal feed. The Spring/Summer talks programme will also be announced at this event. You can find all our links on our LinkTree.

Venue:

The Old King’s Head (upstairs room)
King’s Head Yard
45-49 Borough High Street
London SE1 1NA

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Posted in Events

Tagged event, Geeks and Nerds, London, Pubsci, Science, science in the pub, social

Weds 19th April | PubSci Restart Event: A Celebration of Science

Posted on April 11, 2023 by MarshalledThoughts | 1 comment

On Wednesday 19th April 2023 we’re enormously excited to be returning to in-person events, three years after we paused due to the pandemic. This will be a celebratory evening of science communication and socialising: Four different speakers on four different topics to make you laugh, cry, gasp, and ask “Just how close is the bar?”

Please join us for an evening to remember:

Kate Viscardi considers standards and deviations in “How Long Is a Piece of String?
George Holdaway discusses “Islamic Art: The Quest for the Quasi Crystal”
Mike Lucibella asks “What’s the Deal with Antarctica?”
Richard Marshall presents “The Levitating Hamster and Other Definitely True Stories”

• • •

This event will be a social one as well as a SciCom one. In a change from the usual ~45-minute talk followed by questions, there will be more bar breaks and we’ve included extra time for catching up with friends old and new. Let’s celebrate getting together again!

Kate Viscardi is a senior lecturer at LSBU and previously headed their Women in Engineering Centre.
George Holdaway is a polymath who tutors in STEM topics.
Mike Lucibella edited the newspaper of the US Antarctic Programme before joining UCL.
Richard Marshall has been programming and hosting PubSci since 2018.

Join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge station (see below). Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. The Old King’s Head has a happy hour before 7pm to get you in the mood, and the kitchen serves excellent pub grub.

• • •

As usual the event is free, but we will have a whip-round to cover expenses. As so few of us carry cash now, you can contribute digitally too. This event will not be livestreamed.

We aim to keep PubSci accessible for all, although it is unsuitable for under 18s as we meet in the upper room of a pub. Regrettably, there is no wheelchair access. We tried very hard to find an accessible venue.

Please check our Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our iCal feed. The Spring/Summer talks programme will also be announced at this event. You can find all our links on our LinkTree.

NB We used to meet on the first Wednesday of the month but PubSci is now on the third Wednesday.

Address:

The Old King’s Head (upstairs room)
King’s Head Yard
45-49 Borough High Street
London SE1 1NA

1 Comment

Posted in Events

Tagged event, Geeks and Nerds, London, Pubsci, Science, science in the pub, social

Image

Remember when PubSci used to meet in an actual pub…?

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Posted on February 27, 2023 by MarshalledThoughts in Events

Tagged event, Geeks and Nerds, Pub, Pubsci, Science, science in the pub, social

Katrina van Grouw – A Very Fine Swan Indeed: Art, Science & The Unfeathered Bird

Posted on May 7, 2016 by PaoloViscardi | 3 comments

On Wednesday 1st June we’re very pleased to have Katrina van Grouw speaking at PubSci.

Katrina inhabits that no-man’s land, slap bang between art and science. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, her formal education was in Printmaking and Natural History Illustration, but she’s also a dedicated ornithologist, a former Natural History Museum curator, a qualified bird ringer, and an experienced preparator of natural history specimens.

The book, The Unfeathered Bird, is a magnum opus twenty five years in the
making, and was originally intended as a manual for bird artists. It was only much later that it blossomed into something far more ambitious. A world away from textbooks and diagrams, this is a work equally intended for scientists and artists, indeed anyone with an appreciation of birds or an interest in their adaptations and behaviour. It includes no fewer than 385 illustrations of 200 species, all made from actual specimens, many of which are shown in lifelike positions. Virtually all the complete skeletons were prepared and reconstructed at home from specimens donated from zoos, wildlife hospitals and conservation charities.

Join Katrina as she explains her aims and inspirations, shares her insights about birds beneath their feathers, and relates how her home was turned upside down as more and more specimens joined the queue.

Doors open at 6pm for a 7pm start upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge station. As usual, the event is free, but we will have a whip-round to cover costs – we hope to see you there!

3 Comments

Posted in Events

Tagged cafe sci, London, Pub, Pubsci, science in the pub, social, talks

PUBSCI NEWS

Posted on January 8, 2013 by PaoloViscardi | 2 comments

New venue for monthly PubSci

After nearly two years of PubSci in the Upstairs bar at the Ritzy in Brixton, we have decided to move on. The Ritzy was a great place to run the events thanks to the helpful staff, but noise from the downstairs bar was an ongoing issue and we are moving on in search of slightly quieter pastures (we were also keen to find a venue with more ales than lagers).

The new venue for PubSci is the Albert Arms, which is a traditional boozer (with some proper beers) located in Southwark, just a short walk from Elephant & Castle tube.

Starting with a BANG!

The first event at the Albert will be Claire Benson telling the stories of fire and explosions from the 19th century that captured imaginations, changed the face of the planet and the very way we see the cosmos.

So, if you want to know how spontaneous combustion led to the London Fire Brigade creation, how explosives actually saved many lives, and how the development of 1 small piece of laboratory equipment lead to us understanding the very makeup and expansion of the universe, then join us at 6:30pm on Monday 14th January (yes, the day before the pub quiz – our last event in Brixton).

We hope you like the new venue!

2 Comments

Posted in Events

Tagged Albert Arms, Beer, Elephant & Castle, event, geek, Geeks and Nerds, London, Pub, Pubsci, Science, Science Communication, science in the pub, social, Southwark

Tag Archives: social

[Booking via eventbrite. Free to attend but donations to running costs are greatly appreciated]

[Eventbrite registration required. Free to attend but donations to running costs welcome]

New venue for monthly PubSci

Starting with a BANG!

Time & place

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